House hears testimony from Monrovia Growers

From ANLA: As the House Agriculture Committee prepares to assemble its version of a new Farm Bill, the Horticulture and Nutrition subcommittee held a hearing May 8 to review specialty crop programs of the last Farm Bill.

The American Nursery & Landscape Association was invited to provide a witness, and Jerry Lee, Monrovia Growers (GA) testified on the industry’s and ANLA’s behalf. 

Lee’s testimony focused on what is working well, and programs that should be adjusted to perform better.  Success stories discussed by Lee included the following programs:
• The Pest and Disease Program (Section 10201) has funded innovative initiatives to identify pest threats, mitigate risks before they arrive here, and detect them and respond rapidly when they do.  A hallmark of the program’s success is the involvement of industry stakeholders, to ensure that programs are relevant in the real world.
• The National Clean Plant Network has stabilized and broadened infrastructure to allow for the safe importation and distribution of clean stock of high-value but high-risk plants ranging from apples to peaches to citrus to grapes and berries.  The program helps to protect these critical industries and ensure their access to pathogen-tested planting stock of the newest and best varieties. 
• Specialty Crop Block Grants have allowed for state-level, locally-relevant projects and solutions to allow specialty crop producers to survive and thrive. Lee mentioned landscape water conservation and irrigation training during the long and severe Georgia drought, and the new and expanding Plant Something program (www.plant-something.org) as achievements important to the nursery and landscape industry.

Lee also offered ideas for some program improvements. The Specialty Crop Research Initiative has provided major new funding for sectors that have long been underserved by existing research programs. He called for Congress to direct full and consistent industry involvement early in the grant review process, to ensure that projects reflect top industry priorities. He also described the “near-train wreck” that occurred when the Biomass Crop Assistance Program was set to pay federal subsidies to divert tree bark and wood materials away from established, value-added horticultural uses like growing media and mulch. He suggested that clearer definitions in the next Farm Bill might avoid such unintended consequences going forward. 
Nursery and greenhouse growers and other specialty crop producers do not receive, and do not seek, traditional farm payments or subsidies. Yet, wise investments in infrastructure for things like research and pest prevention enable growers’ success. “For our industry, the plant pest and disease, clean plant, research, and block grant provisions have been among the most beneficial. We hope that they will be continued, and improved upon, in the next Farm Bill,” Lee concluded.

To read the full text of Lee’s testimony visit http://bit.ly/JLFarmBill.